Friday, June 24, 2016

Coming out and proclaiming myself a panda was one of the hardest decisions in my life. At least pandas are cute, don't you think? [See what I did there?]. Anyway, I've had minimal success with the masks and serum I wrote about in my previous post. Also, a huge milia popped up as a result, I think, out of complications with any two products; using them individually did not seem to produce more milia.

So, in an effort to become cute sans panda eyes, I thought it was time to hide the dark circles.

Coverage

In contrast to the masks and serum, the Catrice Cosmetics Camouflage Cream doesn't offer to treat in any way; its function is primarily to conceal. I like the texture of this cream and how it blends; it's not too heavy and adheres to skin fairly easily. I do the patting method to apply the cream and layer lightly, as a heavier coverage all in one go will end up in a patchy uneven application.

Which eye did I apply the cream again? Oh yes, the left.

Speaking of coverage, it says on the pot that the cream offers full coverage, but as you can see from the photo to the left [my left eye, your right], the coverage is not as 'full'. Even after a lot of layering over, my dark circles still show through; but everywhere else where the spots are not so dark the cream works brilliantly. Or, it's just me in denial that my dark circles are just too powerful. By the way, in this photo, just to show you the cream by itself, I've applied the cream on one eye, over a moisturiser without any foundation or primer. And yes, coverage improves if I have foundation on first before the concealer, which is what I always do anyway.

Creasing

I think creasing in the eyelids is quite common among concealers; it usually goes away if you blend or re-blend after a few minutes of application. Settling into the fine lines under your eyes is another matter. The Catrice Camouflage Cream does relatively well not to, but will settle after a long wear of about seven hours, even then will barely be noticeable.

Revealing itself to the world.

Colour

The colour is not quite right for my under-eye dark circles. I was looking for something peachy or coral-ly; I think I read somewhere that those colours correct bluish dark circles. When I was shopping for the cream, there were only three options to choose from and I chose ‘Rosy Sand’; the most pinkish and, at the time I thought, peachy of the three. Unfortunately, 'Rosy Sand' turns my dark circles a bit ashen. Again, the colour improves if applied over a foundation; not as ashen. I guess the key here is to always use your foundation.

So far, the Catrice Cosmetics Camouflage Cream doesn't seem to clog my pores and doesn’t break me out. I was on a transition from my BB cream and I found this concealer was a great makeshift foundation, providing that I use it sparingly and blend thoroughly; and since I don’t like a heavy base, this is perfect as a single base right after my primer. Just like any other foundations, I guess, before any applications, your skin has to be clean, moisturised and preferably exfoliated, otherwise the application won't be as even and there would be little clumps especially at the side of the nose.

I don’t know if I want to keep using this as a concealer because of the colour and coverage; I do find this cream is a great eyeshadow base though. But until I find a better concealer, I think I'll finish this one as I don't find it terribly awful especially if I use on top of my foundation.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

It still amazes me how a thin, soft, gel-like thingy can make the world so much brighter; and I thank those who invented the contact lens and those who had to suffer in order to get to where we are now in terms of corrective vision. I still look forward to putting my contacts on every day and still smile after putting them on each time... literally [I do!]. It's one of those happy moments that are often overlooked.

I Keep Sleeping in My Contacts

Since I started sleeping in my contacts over a year ago, I have regularly been sleeping in them overnight. I have also gone two days and two nights - roughly 48 hours - a few times and so far that's the limit of both my courage and physical comfort. After two nights, the third day becomes less of a thrill; the contacts become rather uncomfortable but still wearable. So I don’t know if I can go a week, which is also the contacts intended wear [PDF], without trying to claw the contacts out. But what I love about sleeping in them is that waking up being able to see clearly; a luxury only four-eyed creatures can understand. The other good thing about sleeping in my contacts - the unintended side effect, so to speak - is that my multipurpose solutions last twice as long, as I skip the cleaning routine a day.

How Comfortable are These Contacts Really?

The short answer is, it depends. One other contacts which I can compare Biofinity with is Biomedics 38; Biofinity surpasses Biomedics 38 in terms of comfort and comfort during extended wear. However, it still depends on how dry the climate is - if its windy, if its dusty - everything factors in. You might need eyedrops to compensate and keep the contacts comfortable for longer, but I have not tried eyedrops with Biofinity so I can’t say exactly how effective those are.

I can't guarantee you'll have the same experience as mine, as each of us have slightly different needs and eye conditions. And just for the record, for the most part, I've been using Biofinity with Opti-Free Pure Moist and I find that it's the best multipurpose solutions so far.

I'm too comfortable to try something else. I don’t want to mess up with the routine I have going right now. Having said that, I have been eyeing daily contacts like the Proclear 1 day. I can imagine it would be extremely comfortable to have a fresh pair of contacts every time. But for now, I'm staying with Biofinity. What about you?

Thursday, June 2, 2016

For those familiar with the Nestlé’s Koko Krunch cereal, you might also be familiar with the shape of their flakes since, as far as I can remember, its inception - it’s a curved concave quarter moon shape with pointy ends.

I don’t know if I’m the only one in this but I hate that shape. Before you judge me for that, I have a good reason: it’s not simply about aesthetic, the pointy ends dig into my gum, especially when I eat the cereal with milk. What? Have you never eaten this without milk? Anyway, the poking absolutely takes out all the joy of eating its chocolatey goodness... seriously.

Recently, they have been selling, and I have been buying, the limited edition; the one with the shape of the flake is the head of the cute koala that’s been the mascot of the cereal. And guess what? It doesn’t dig into my gum!

The koala-shaped flakes. Top-left insert: the original shape.

However, considering the koala-shaped version is a limited edition, I’m guessing they are going to go back to the original shape; and considering the Koko Krunch we know has always been that pointy, gum-poking thingy, there’s ‘heritage’ at stake. But don't you think, in this case, change is good?

By the way, did you know that Koko Krunch is also known as Chocapic in some countries? Only that the mascot is different.

One more thing, just for the record, I don't eat this cereal every day. Everything in moderation, don't you agree?